Qualcomm to host Mexico-Guatemala soccer

Soccer United Marketing, which holds the U.S. rights for Mexico's national soccer team, announced yesterday that El Tri will play a friendly at Qualcomm Stadium on June 28, against Guatemala. Kickoff is 5 p.m.

It is the 19th time Mexico's full national team has played in San Diego since the early 1990s, all but one at Qualcomm Stadium. Its record here: 12-2-4.

One of those losses came last year, 4-1 to Argentina before a record crowd of 68,498. In 2007, Mexico beat Venezuela 3-0 at the Q before 63,328 – the previous record for a soccer match in San Diego.

The June match will serve as Mexico's final tune-up before the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the region's biennial championship that begins July 3. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased now through Ticketmaster in a special pre-sale for Visa cardholders. A general sale begins May 5.

The announcement of the Mexico-Guatemala game was not the day's only soccer news for Qualcomm Stadium. The Q was one of 58 stadiums in 49 markets that showed interest in hosting games in the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

The USA Bid Committee sent information packets to 70 venues this month. All 30 NFL stadiums that received them said yes. Most of the declined invitations were from college stadiums, among them Notre Dame, BYU, LSU, Georgia, Texas, Auburn, Penn State and Michigan State.

The next step is for the USA Bid Committee to meet individually with stadium and market officials, then trim the remaining contenders roughly in half before presenting the formal bid in May 2010. FIFA, soccer's world governing body, will select hosts for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in December 2010.